At 03:46 PM 6/1/2007, you wrote:
>Hello, I'm new here. I am looking for some help with a Lost Valley
>hammered dulcimer I purchased. It is 24 years old, and I contacted
>Linda Foley, the maker, to get some details about it, but no one has
>returned my call. The dulcimer needs restringing.

Why? Unless the strings are severely corroded, they should not need
to be replaced. Or are they missing? If just dirty / rusty, they
can be cleaned off with a Scotchbrite pad and a VERY little WD-40 or
similar very thin oil..... or no oil at all. Try using the
Scotchbrite pad on them and then wipe them down with a rag that is
slightly moistened with a thin oil. You don't want any excess oil or
it will collect on the underside of the strings and make them sound
very dead until you wipe it off.

>The treble courses
>have 4 strings and the bass courses have 3. All the strings are of a
>lighter gage than on my other hammered dulcimer. Does anyone here know
>what effect the lighter but more strings produces, versus having fewer,
>but heavier strings? Do lighter gage strings tend to go out of tune
>faster?

My taste only, but I prefer the sound of three strings over the sound
of just two. Having more strings to spread out the energy the hammer
imparts seems to make for better dynamic range and a richer
tone. But this effect can also be overwhelmed by the characteristics
of any given instrument.

>I am wondering if it is possible to restring it with slightly heavier
>strings, but fewer of them--say 3 strings for treble and 2 for each
>bass, or would this put too much pressure on the frame?

I would not do that. For the same note, a larger diameter string
will need to be tensioned higher, and the aggregate effect of 70-80
strings at a higher tension might be enough to cause structural issues.

>Lastly, does anyone have an opinion about lost valley dulcimers...the
>sound they produce, their pros and cons, over other models. I have
>shopped around a bit, I know nick blankton and mastercraft are
>considered to be very good. but I have not been willing to put that
>much money into a dulcimer yet, as I am still learning what I want.

Linda is a well respected dulcimer maker in Michigan.

The model you have is possibly a little louder and fuller than the
current two string models she makes these days. Get it perfectly in
tune (it might take a while) and see how it sounds to you.

Paul

Paul Goelz
Rochester Hills, MI USA
paul@...
http://www.pgoelz.com